Professional caregivers who abuse seniors will face up to three years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000 and be put on a register after MPs yesterday passed a new law to tackle what may be a growing problem.

Culture and Social Rehabilitation Minister Dale Butler said during a debate on the Senior Abuse Register Act 2008 that concern was growing for seniors, who now represent 11 percent of the population, in vulnerable situations.

He told the House of Assembly: "We currently have 24 active cases of alleged elderly abuse where we are intervening by offering assistance to an elderly person."

Since 1994 there have been 210 cases of senior abuse reported but there could be many more which have not come to light, said Mr. Butler.

Elder abuse hit the headlines last September when a 95-year-old partially blind widow, known as Auntie Em, was revealed by this newspaper to have been living in horrific conditions, with cockroaches crawling across her skin and on her food in a vermin-infested property.

She was a suspected victim of neglect and emotional abuse by her adopted daughter. Within days of Auntie Em appearing in The Royal Gazette, six fresh cases of suspected elder abuse were reported to the authorities.

The Act approved by MPs yesterday only applies to professional caregivers and Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson, while welcoming the law, said it was a "flimsy document" which did not go far enough and would not prevent others like Auntie Em "slipping through the cracks".

"It's obviously inadequate," she said.

Mr. Butler told MPs: "We believe instances of elder abuse are on the rise although there are not yet reliable statistics available."

Abuse is defined as physical, emotional, sexual or psychological abuse or financial exploitation of a person 65 years or older and Mr. Butler said the prediction of rising problems was based on the elderly population which will increase by 130 percent by 2025. The law will make reporting suspected abuse mandatory for those responsible for the care of seniors.

The abuse register, available to employers and those looking to hire caregivers to look after elderly relatives, will be kept by the National Office for Seniors and Physically Challenged. Care providers must check prospective employees are not listed.

People will be entered if they have caused physical harm either by direct action or neglect, where they have caused sexual abuse or allowed it to happen and where they have caused a senior serious emotional harm or hardship.

A specially-appointed registrar will have the power to set up an investigation, apply for a protection order and refer matters to the Police.

Mrs. Jackson, the Opposition's spokeswoman on seniors, said the Act placed a lot of responsibility on the registrar and the law had too many loopholes.

She said she recently alerted Health Minister Nelson Bascome to a case of a senior in a rest home who had bed sores to the bone and he remedied the situation immediately.

But Mrs. Jackson said it only came to light because someone called her on behalf of the sufferer and she wondered why the rest home had not spotted the problem.

Financial abuse was another problem, said Mrs. Jackson, who recounted one woman whose home was taken over while she was put into care with the exploiters then declining to pay her fees, leaving Government to pick up the bill. "Everyone knows about it, no one did anything about it."

She called for a PR campaign to encourage people to report case of suspected abuse.

Government MP Michael Scott said the legislation was an example of the Government being responsive.

"We did experience during the course of 2007 the high-profile discussion of this question of abuse of our golden citizens and citizenry in the case of Auntie Em and immediately the Government began to recognise the urgency of putting in place a framework," he said.

PLP backbencher Ashfield DeVent said the law was to be welcomed but was an indictment on modern-day Bermuda.

He attributed elder abuse to the Island's growing affluence, saying it had created a culture of "me, me, me".

Opposition Leader Kim Swan, conversely, suggested that the problem was due to the poverty in which many seniors find themselves in 2008.

Shadow Works and Engineering Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin questioned the wisdom of making the register confidential as opposed to accessible by all. She also called for regular inspections of senior care facilities.

Deputy Premier Paula Cox said Government was committed to having "competent and compassionate" people caring for seniors but added that there was a dearth of those at the moment.

Former Premier Jennifer Smith praised those who are carrying out a good job caring for elderly people.

"They do a job that many people would not want to do themselves," she said.